Am I crazy? Cribs not guaranteed?

[rocketriter]

Great summary. Glad we could give you some validation.

 

[SueM in MN]

We are renting points and staying at OKW (studio) in November. I am in a wheelchair and my friend requested a roll-in shower and no smoking for medical reasons when she made the reservations. I understand that this is not guaranteed, but I am hoping that someone here can reassure me that the odds of us ending up on the top floor of a smoking building with steps and a bath tub aren't very good!

If you have requested a roll in shower wheelchair accessible room for medical reasons, that is guaranteed from what we have been told by Member Services. They block those off when the reservation is made. The non-smoking part is not guaranteed, but if it is a medical request, those are filled before the general requests for the same thing. In 11 years as DVC members at OKW, we always request a first floor room or one in the buidlings with elevators for Medical Reasons. The only time we didn't get it was 11 years ago, when it didn't say "For Medical Reasons" on our confirmation. We came in after midnight and there were no first floor rooms. We carried DD up the stairs and they moved us the next day (without charging a room change fee). Since then, our confirmation has always said something about "Medical Reasons" and we have always got what we need.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Figaro
We are renting points and staying at OKW (studio) in November. I am in a wheelchair and my friend requested a roll-in shower and no smoking for medical reasons when she made the reservations. I understand that this is not guaranteed, but I am hoping that someone here can reassure me that the odds of us ending up on the top floor of a smoking building with steps and a bath tub aren't very good! I guess I would have to sleep in the rental car if that happened(smile).

Thank you! This board has been such a wonderful source of information and the people here have been just great!

Hopefully they booked you as a HA room, check you confirmation as it should document it if so. As SueM noted, they book these rooms separately so if you were booked into one, you're ok, if not, you'll likely have a problem.

 

[Dean]

With all due respect to your opinion, what does the fact that a 2-year-old does not having to pay admission to the park, have to do with whether they're being provided a crib?? I'm the parent, I made the request -- and I'm paying!

Assuming you're NOT over the occupancy limits, I'd agree with you. And while MS quotes the number plus a child under 3, the actual states limits are without the extra child.

That's true, but I wonder if there's a better way of "allocating" the cribs that are available, given the numbers requesting in advance? Maybe it's too much of a hassle, but just a thought.

They are allocated first come, first served, just like the wheel chairs, etc. This is the proper way for this type of item. When they can't even handle home resort priority, how could they keep up with who wants a toater or blender in a studio or who wants a crib. And while the crib may be more important to you, it's the same for the resrot. The only issue I'd have is that it would have been better if they'd actually told you though they did give you that info on the confirmation about requests not being guaranteed.

 

[crisi]

Originally posted by jodifla
DS, now 2 1/2, has slept in the pack n plays about a half dozen times on vacation (just last week, in fact.) I wonder about OP's comment that they're not suitable for overnight sleeping. Is that from his perspective's or the child's?

For kids that young, I find that they are fine as a bed. DS sleeps through the night in them. And because DS sleeps on his knees with his arms tucked under him, he has plenty of room and may sleep in them until he's 4 even though he's a big guy!

If certain equipment is very important, it's best to rent. I don't know of any hotel that guarantees a crib....I don't think it is possible for them to know who is sleeping where when it comes to kids. Lots of kids sleep with their parents, so that would through the numbers off.

I also wonder about that. My daughter slept in nothing but a pack and play for six months (my son and daughter are only a year apart, and her big brother needed to vacate the crib.) Then she moved into a crib and at eighteen months, he moved into a big bed. My kids did plenty of travel in pack n plays. I know families who have never had anything but pack n plays for cribs (they can be had much cheaper than a crib) - and families who have never owned pack n plays or cribs (cosleepers). On the other hand, I find the OPs comments about them appropriate as a playpen baffling. By the time my kids could crawl at six or seven months, a pack n play was too restrictive as a playpen - it was a nap space or a short term "safety" space - and by a year it was no longer adequate as even a safety space.

Our first kids trip to Disney our kids were 2 and 3 - and did fine in the big bed. We didn't have a crib for either of them. No bed rails either.

 

[crisi]

Graco's, actually. They're sold as playyards, not beds.

You might want to check their web site. They are definately selling some of these things as cribs. Now, other places on their site they say that these are not intended for cribs, say they make excellent travel cribs, say they should only be used for naps, and market them with bassinets - seems Graco's marketing department can't decide how to market these. I know the box I have in the basement says "pack n play - portable crib" (Its five years old now).

http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/product.aspx?modelNumber=9000JAY&campaignID=featureprod

 

[Beca]

Originally posted by crisi
I also wonder about that. My daughter slept in nothing but a pack and play for six months (my son and daughter are only a year apart, and her big brother needed to vacate the crib.) Then she moved into a crib and at eighteen months, he moved into a big bed. My kids did plenty of travel in pack n plays. I know families who have never had anything but pack n plays for cribs (they can be had much cheaper than a crib) - and families who have never owned pack n plays or cribs (cosleepers). On the other hand, I find the OPs comments about them appropriate as a playpen baffling. By the time my kids could crawl at six or seven months, a pack n play was too restrictive as a playpen - it was a nap space or a short term "safety" space - and by a year it was no longer adequate as even a safety space.

I think this thread may be getting a little lost (not, specifically the post above...this is just an example). Some people are saying their children CAN sleep in them, others' children could "play" in them, but not sleep. I (on the other hand), have a very sweet, but VERY spoiled and hard-headed 2yr old....she's not sleeping anywhere, but in my arms!! My point is this. I think whether or not a child is comfortable in a pack 'n play is really up to the child, and what they have become accustomed to at home. Children do not adapt well to change (as a whole), and that is why I always pack my DD's pillow when we go anywhere...without familiar "smells", she is fidgety all night!! Now, I am REALLY liking the idea of bringing our own sheets...I don't know why I never thought of that before!!

Anyway, it seems to me that the whole debate on whether pack 'n plays "work" or do not "work" is a really moot debate. They work if they work for your particular child...otherwise, they do NOT work (and, by the way....here's hoping they will "work" with our next child...I'm REALLY tired of co-sleeping!!! )

IMO, the poster seemed to imply that they would've been willing to rent if they had known that option was available, and they also stated that "bed rails" would've been a wonderful option, "if they had known". I think the real culprit here was ignorance (I'm using that word in the BEST possible sense...I am not implying that the OP is dumb!!) of the way things work. I can sympathize with her panic feelings that she was having while talking to CM's. Children do not understand why things have to be, or why they are different...I'm sure she was very concerned as to how you explain this to a tired, uncomfortable small child. I completely understand...DH and I are "freaking out" about how we are going to explain to her that she can see "It's a Small World", but cannot ride it because it is "broken". Now, when she is rested...she will take it at face value...but, when she gets tired...that is ALL I am going to hear about!!!

Not having "expected" and "normal" sleeping arrangements for a small child means that when you lay them down to sleep, they better be good and asleep, or they wake up screaming. This means you have to hold them until they fall soundly asleep (which can be a very long time, which cuts into your sleep time, and can cause large changes in your schedule and plans). Being, adaptable is the key...but, sometimes when it hits you by surprise...it can throw you. I understand exactly where she is coming from. I think she will probably make alternate arrangements in the future...and, be fine with that as well. She was just thrown by what she didn't know...that's understandable for anyone!!!



Beca

 

[crisi]

Oh, Beca, I completely agree. That was why I posted. The OP seemed to think that all children sleep in cribs and pack and plays were simply never appropriate. But lots of kids do fine in pack and plays - at least for the few nights you are on vacation. Other people will cosleep for vacation. Other's just get enough pillows from housekeeping to make the bed relatively safe (assuming the child is past SIDs age).

When you travel, your child's routines and schedules are going to be disrupted. Some kids handle that great - my son transitioned from his Korean foster mom to a house that didn't smell like garlic and chili paste and parents who looked nothing like anyone he'd seen in his young life without a hitch - even the twelve hour time zone difference was an easy adjustment. (We did have to co-sleep with him - which is what he was used to - off and on until he was two.) Other kids will not handle the slightest change well. If they sleep in a crib at home, a crib in a hotel room won't solve the issue with a child like that, because the crib isn't home and their routines are completely screwed up. If your child is one of those, you need to learn quickly that you need to plan for all contingencies - whether that is a room louder than your child is used to, quiter than they are used to, or the hotel not having a crib available.

We didn't travel until our kids were two and three - in part because traveling with little ones and the logistics of two in car seats, two in diapers, two needing bottles, two that can't sleep in a bed were overwhelming. Other people think nothing of taking their small children all over the world - a friend's son has been on three continents before the age of two! and if both my kids were like my son, we'd be traveling with them. Others go hiking and camping with three under the age of six - and you know they aren't hauling a crib three miles back into the woods.

When traveling with kids, you need to know the child's limits, you need to know your own limits, and you need to know what the place you are going to be visiting is. Before I had children, it never occured to me a hotel would provide a crib - I would have never thought to ask before these boards - where the OP took for granted she could get one. I was shocked to arrive at MCO with two toddlers and a rental car reservation that included carseats to discover carseats were not guarenteed! How was I going to get two toddlers to DisneyWorld without carseats! (We waited two hours for carseats to become available). But you are almost done parenting little ones before you learn all the tricks.

Our first WDW trip with kids was WL. I remember checking in and asking that we not get a room with bunkbeds, because our kids were little. I said "you wouldn't stick me in one anyway, because of their ages" (I figured liability would keep them from putting toddlers into a room with bunkbeds). It surprised me to learn I was wrong and, in fact, had we checked in late we could have ended up stuck in a room with bunkbeds and two toddlers!

 

[Beca]

Originally posted by crisi
I was shocked to arrive at MCO with two toddlers and a rental car reservation that included carseats to discover carseats were not guarenteed! How was I going to get two toddlers to DisneyWorld without carseats! (We waited two hours for carseats to become available). But you are almost done parenting little ones before you learn all the tricks.

[/QUOTE}/

Wow!!! I would've thought carseats would've been "guaranteed" as well!!! After all, it is a LAW, not a suggestion!!! See..everyone makes parenting "assumptions". I would've been thrown by that one as well!!!

As for the rest of your post...I COMPLETELY agree!!! Well said!!!!



Beca

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Beca

Originally posted by crisi
I was shocked to arrive at MCO with two toddlers and a rental car reservation that included carseats to discover carseats were not guarenteed! How was I going to get two toddlers to DisneyWorld without carseats! (We waited two hours for carseats to become available). But you are almost done parenting little ones before you learn all the tricks.

[/QUOTE}/

Wow!!! I would've thought carseats would've been "guaranteed" as well!!! After all, it is a LAW, not a suggestion!!! See..everyone makes parenting "assumptions". I would've been thrown by that one as well!!!

As for the rest of your post...I COMPLETELY agree!!! Well said!!!!


Beca,
They only have so many to rent and it is never guaranteed. Read the disclaimer on the site.
It is indeed the law, however, it is not the responsibility of the car rental agency to adhere to it, it is the parents' responsibility.

Beca

 

[Beca]

Gail,

I completely agree!! It makes total sense to me (now) that having a carseat could not be a "guarantee". To assume so would be a dumb assumption on my part...but, sometimes, I am just dumb!!! I have never traveled without my child's personal carseat (I was a flight attendant for eight years, and my personal opinion is if they need a carseat going 55 mph, then they definitely need one going 550 mph). So, if laws go into effect that children need booster seats until 8/80 or 10/100, I will be the Mom of some very unhappy children in booster seats on airplanes. But, partially because of my inexperience in this area, I don't think I would've known to ask the difference between a "request" and a "guarantee". When my DD was born, the hospital policy was that a NURSE had to observe me strapping my DD in a carseat in the appropriate manner or I was not allowed to leave the hospital with her. If a family could not afford a carseat, the hospital called the fire department who brought one over and gave it to the family for free. I guess I thought car rental places would do the same (not giving a new one, just guaranteeing the presence of one, such as linking it to a reservation, much the way that HA rooms are linked for those with disabilities...because to provide accomodations to comply with the ADA laws...they have to do this), since they might (in today's society) be held responsible if something were to happen (much the same way that I had to "ground" an airplane if a parent did not have their child strapped in properly. It really wasn't for a child's safety, it was liablility on the airline's part). So, I guess I figured...no carseat...no car rental. That's why I assumed they were "guaranteed" to some extent. I'm not saying it was a smart assumption....just my assumption!!!!



Beca

 

[crisi]

Actually, what I later discovered is that in most states, cars for hire (cabs, towncars, and - in some states - rental cars - I can't remember if Florida is one of them) are exempt from car seat laws. Not that I would put my young child in a car without a carseat. Can't even make assumptions about laws.

As to guarenteeing them - I would have thought they would "book" carseats as they do cars or hotel rooms, have one reserved and they will have one, don't have one reserved and they will give you one if its available - but they don't.

(Then again, reserving a car doesn't guarentee it either - and many of us have been to reserved hotel rooms to discover ourselves changing hotels because the hotel is full or bumped from flights you are holding a ticket for. Nothing is truly guarenteed.)

 

[Beca]

Originally posted by crisi
Actually, what I later discovered is that in most states, cars for hire (cabs, towncars, and - in some states - rental cars - I can't remember if Florida is one of them) are exempt from car seat laws. Not that I would put my young child in a car without a carseat. Can't even make assumptions about laws.

Wow!! That's actually kind of scary!!



Beca

PS...Now, we're REALLY off topic, huh!!!

 

[jodifla]

Well, think about NYC. How do you think folks get around with their kids there? They put them in cabs or ride the subway or buses, and there are no car seats there.

Particularly with car seats so cumbersome to install that most people do it incorrectly -- then factoring in that not all car seats fit all cars, and its pretty bad situation.

It's easiest if you travel with your own car seat. Then you'll know you'll always have it.

But with most public transportation, unfortunately, there aren't really car seat options.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by crisi
Actually, what I later discovered is that in most states, cars for hire (cabs, towncars, and - in some states - rental cars - I can't remember if Florida is one of them) are exempt from car seat laws. Not that I would put my young child in a car without a carseat. Can't even make assumptions about laws.

As to guarenteeing them - I would have thought they would "book" carseats as they do cars or hotel rooms, have one reserved and they will have one, don't have one reserved and they will give you one if its available - but they don't.

(Then again, reserving a car doesn't guarentee it either - and many of us have been to reserved hotel rooms to discover ourselves changing hotels because the hotel is full or bumped from flights you are holding a ticket for. Nothing is truly guarenteed.)

FL. public transport is exempt as are limo services.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Beca
Gail,

I completely agree!! It makes total sense to me (now) that having a carseat could not be a "guarantee". To assume so would be a dumb assumption on my part...but, sometimes, I am just dumb!!! I have never traveled without my child's personal carseat (I was a flight attendant for eight years, and my personal opinion is if they need a carseat going 55 mph, then they definitely need one going 550 mph). So, if laws go into effect that children need booster seats until 8/80 or 10/100, I will be the Mom of some very unhappy children in booster seats on airplanes. But, partially because of my inexperience in this area, I don't think I would've known to ask the difference between a "request" and a "guarantee". When my DD was born, the hospital policy was that a NURSE had to observe me strapping my DD in a carseat in the appropriate manner or I was not allowed to leave the hospital with her. If a family could not afford a carseat, the hospital called the fire department who brought one over and gave it to the family for free. I guess I thought car rental places would do the same (not giving a new one, just guaranteeing the presence of one, such as linking it to a reservation, much the way that HA rooms are linked for those with disabilities...because to provide accomodations to comply with the ADA laws...they have to do this), since they might (in today's society) be held responsible if something were to happen (much the same way that I had to "ground" an airplane if a parent did not have their child strapped in properly. It really wasn't for a child's safety, it was liablility on the airline's part). So, I guess I figured...no carseat...no car rental. That's why I assumed they were "guaranteed" to some extent. I'm not saying it was a smart assumption....just my assumption!!!!



Beca

We all make assumptions and most make sense. Yours certainly did.

 

[crisi]

Gail, yep, knew that. Almost all states have exceptions for cabs (and limo services). What I can't remember (and am past the point of having to worry about - my baby being six on the next trip and capable of getting around safely with a seat belt adjuster), was if FL was one of the states that allows a rental car exception.

In Minnesota (where I live, so I've looked at the carseat laws a little more carefully) your baby does not need to be in a car seat while breastfeeding. Obviously, breastfeeding while the baby was in a carseat would be difficult, but most safety concious moms would pull over and do it at a rest stop. Even if hubby is driving.....

 

[Beca]

Originally posted by GAIL HAYDEN
We all make assumptions and most make sense. Yours certainly did.

You are always SO NICE to me!!!

Thanks!!



Beca

 

[Deb & Bill]

Originally posted by crisi
...
In Minnesota (where I live, so I've looked at the carseat laws a little more carefully) your baby does not need to be in a car seat while breastfeeding. Obviously, breastfeeding while the baby was in a carseat would be difficult, but most safety concious moms would pull over and do it at a rest stop. Even if hubby is driving.....

There was a woman somewhere in the US who was arrested for child endangerment for breastfeeding her baby while driving the vehicle.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by crisi
Gail, yep, knew that. Almost all states have exceptions for cabs (and limo services). What I can't remember (and am past the point of having to worry about - my baby being six on the next trip and capable of getting around safely with a seat belt adjuster), was if FL was one of the states that allows a rental car exception.

In Minnesota (where I live, so I've looked at the carseat laws a little more carefully) your baby does not need to be in a car seat while breastfeeding. Obviously, breastfeeding while the baby was in a carseat would be difficult, but most safety concious moms would pull over and do it at a rest stop. Even if hubby is driving.....

Crisi,
I am sorry, I misread, again. No, rental cars are not exempt from the car seat laws.
Oh, I read your breastfeeding rule and had to chuckle. What do mothers do when they are driving? And, I thought talking on a cell phone was bad!!!!